Former New York City Council Candidate Jonathan Rinaldi Allegedly Used AI to Create False Endorsements and Fabricated News Reports

Queens prosecutors alleged that former City Council candidate Jonathan Rinaldi used AI during his 2025 campaign to manufacture the appearance of political support through posts made to resemble authentic endorsements and news coverage. The material reportedly attributed backing to public figures and institutions that had not provided it and falsely claimed that opponent Lynn Schulman had withdrawn. Rinaldi was charged with forgery and possession of forged instruments.

Risk classification

• Primary risk domain: 4 Malicious actors
• Primary risk subdomain: 4.3 Fraud, scams, and targeted manipulation

The defendant used AI tools to fabricate endorsements and impersonate legitimate organizations and individuals for personal political gain, which constitutes targeted manipulation and fraud.

Additional risk subdomains

• 3.1 False or misleading information: The defendant generated and spread highly specific false news articles and fabricated videos, such as claiming his opponent had dropped out of the race.

Causal factors

• Entity: Human
• Intent: Intentional
• Timing: Post-deployment

The incident was caused by the deliberate actions of a human candidate who intentionally used deployed AI tools to generate and distribute forged political endorsements.

EU AI Act risk tier

• Risk tier: 3 Limited Risk

Risk Level 3: Limited Risk. The incident involves the creation of AI-generated content such as deepfakes (face-swapped images and synthetic videos), which are subject to transparency obligations under the EU AI Act.

AI system and alleged parties

• AI system: Google Gemini, Sora, unspecified AI platform (Google, OpenAI)
• AI purpose: Deepfake Image Generation; Deepfake Video Generation
• Behaviour type: Tool
• Alleged developer: Synthetic video generation technology developers, OpenAI, Image generation technology developers, Google, Face-swapping technology developers, Deepfake technology developers
• Alleged deployer: political candidates, political campaigns, Jonathan Rinaldi
• Alleged harmed parties: Voters in New York City Council District 29, Voters in New York, Voters, The Amsterdam News, Social media users, Robert Holden, Queens Jewish Alliance, Public institutions, political candidates, Police departments, People falsely attributed as authors, P.S. 101 School in Queens, Organizations falsely represented as political endorsers, Nonprofit organizations, News organizations, New York Post, New York Daily News, New York City Police Department 112th Precinct, New York City Police Department, Lynn Schulman, Instagram users, Facebook users, Epistemic integrity, Elected officials, Educational communities, Democratic integrity, Daniel Kurzyna, CNN, Asian Wave Alliance

Harm severity

Highest direct severity in any category: Minor. Severity is scored from Negligible to Catastrophic in each harm category, for harm the reports describe as caused directly or indirectly by the AI system.

• Physical: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Infrastructure: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Property: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Financial: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Environmental: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Malicious content: direct Minor, indirect Negligible
• Differential treatment: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Civil rights: direct Minor, indirect Negligible
• Democracy: direct Minor, indirect Negligible
• Privacy: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Psychological: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Epistemic: direct Minor, indirect Negligible
• Child sexual exploitation and abuse: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible

Malicious content

Reported: Yes, the report describes the creation and distribution of malicious forged political endorsements and fake news articles.

Directly caused: The defendant created and posted multiple AI-generated fake endorsements, videos, and articles on Facebook and Instagram.

Indirectly caused: N/A

Inferred additional harm: N/A

Civil rights

Reported: Yes, the report describes an attempt to defraud voters and interfere with their right to a fair election.

Directly caused: The defendant targeted voters of District 29 with fabricated information to manipulate their voting decisions.

Indirectly caused: N/A

Inferred additional harm: N/A

Democracy

Reported: Yes, the report explicitly highlights the threat to the integrity of elections and the deliberate effort to mislead voters.

Directly caused: The defendant used AI to replace factual political support and launch fabricated attacks against his opponent to mislead voters ahead of a City Council election.

Indirectly caused: N/A

Inferred additional harm: N/A

Epistemic

Reported: Yes, the report describes the fabrication of news articles, fake endorsements, and fake videos to deceive voters.

Directly caused: The defendant generated fake articles using the branding of the New York Post, Amsterdam News, CNN, and Daily News, as well as fake videos of a news anchor, to spread false information.

Indirectly caused: N/A

Inferred additional harm: N/A

People affected

• Occurrences reported: 1
• People reportedly harmed: 4
• People reportedly exposed: 1000

Potential causes

Management

• Unchecked Campaign Leadership: Candidate managed his own campaign without ethical oversight or controls.

Technology

• Generative Video Tools: Sora enabled creation of realistic fake news broadcasts to deceive voters.
• AI Face-Swapping Software: Allowed candidate to easily transplant his face onto endorsement photos.
• Multimodal AI Assistants: Gemini facilitated rapid editing and generation of fake news headlines.

Data Inputs

• Unsecured Public Images: Source photos were easily harvested from public social media accounts.
• Proprietary Brand Assets: Legitimate media logos were imported to make fake news look authentic.

Human Factors

• Intentional Voter Deception: Candidate deliberately used AI as 'asymmetrical warfare' to mislead.

Process and Methods

• Inadequate Prompt Filtering: AI platforms failed to block prompts designed to generate fake news.
• Social Media Dissemination: Platforms hosted and spread manipulated media without instant verification.

Regulatory Environment

• Weak AI Campaign Regulations: Lack of immediate legal barriers to stop AI-driven political forgery.

Information quality

• Classification confidence: High
• Reason for confidence: The report is an official press release from the Queens District Attorney's office, providing precise details about the defendant's actions, specific AI prompts used, platforms involved (Gemini, Sora), and the legal charges. There is very little ambiguity regarding what transpired.

A former NYC Council candidate used Google Gemini and OpenAI Sora to fabricate political endorsements, news articles, and videos to mislead voters. While demonstrating the evolving threat of AI-generated disinformation in democratic processes, the national security impact remains minor as it was a localized municipal incident quickly addressed by law enforcement.

• Overall national security impact: Minor
• Response level: Moderate
• Scope: Single nation
• Primary target: United States
• Alleged perpetrator: Jonathan Rinaldi

Threat characteristics

• Imminence: Long-term. The perpetrator has been arrested and charged, representing no immediate ongoing threat from this specific incident.
• Autonomy: Human-controlled. The perpetrator directly prompted and controlled the AI tools to generate the fraudulent content.
• Novelty: Evolved capability. Represents an evolution in political disinformation, utilizing advanced consumer AI tools to easily fabricate local news and endorsements.

Impact by dimension

• Physical security: Negligible. No physical systems, infrastructure, or human safety threats were involved in this local political campaign incident.
• Information security: Minor. The candidate used AI to generate fake news articles and videos to deceive voters, but the impact was limited to a local municipal election and managed by local law enforcement.
• Sovereignty: Minor. The incident involved attempts to manipulate a local city council election using fabricated endorsements, representing a minor threat to local democratic processes.
• Economic security: Negligible. No strategic technology theft, financial system attacks, or economic manipulation occurred.
• Societal stability: Minor. The deployment of deceptive deepfakes targeted a local electorate, representing a minor threat to democratic norms and voter trust in the district.